Specialisation House Rule

[ways and means]

I was thinking of allowing players to buy specialization in other abilities outside of evocation after they bought a -1 refresh mastery power, these bonuses would use the pyramid and points would be divided between the different trappings of each skill, these bonuses would not stack with stunts. Would this break or ruin the game? 

[Tedronai]

To clarify, what you're proposing is a -1 refresh entrance fee to allow, essentially, Refinement for the purposes of Specialisation to be purchased for a single skill?

[ways and means]

yes.

[Tedronai]

Then the rest depends on your definitions. (what is 'broken', etc)

For the most part, those making use of this option will remain less powerful than those making use of evocation and/or thaumaturgy, due to those powers' versatility and weapon ratings.
At higher refresh expenditures, those making use of this option will substantially surpass those making use of conventional stunts, particularly if those stunts are mandated to follow the stunt creation guidelines rather than the example stunt precedents, but to a somewhat lesser degree even as compared to those stunts.

[ways and means]

I see so better than current stunts but still weaker than casting, pretty much what I was aiming for thanks.

[Sanctaphrax]

This wouldn't be broken, or at least I don't think it would be.

But it would be pretty boring. And it'd run into pyramid width problems quickly with some skills. Unless you let people use things that are only sort of trappings as trappings.

PS: What's the point of this endeavour?

[ways and means]

Power balancing.

[Sanctaphrax]

A worthy goal, to be sure. But there must be a better way.

Maybe just remove all stacking restrictions from stunts. So you can take 8 sword related stunts for +4 to hit, +4 to defend, and +4 stress as long as you are using a sword.

[Tedronai]

I'd recommend against that except in very high refresh games.
I think the stunt stacking guidelines should be gradually eased for games with higher-than-Chest-Deep refresh, but not removed entirely for quite a ways past submerged.

[Sanctaphrax]

Yeah, easing them is probably better than removing them. (Personally, I'd rather leave them as-is...but my judgement might be clouded.)

What sort of easing would you recommend?

[Tedronai]

I'd likely implement the suggested diminished returns (half value of second stunt) option at Submerged, but limit even that to 2 stunts towards any given value. (I'm undecided as to how fractional values should be rounded at this stage)
3 or 4 refresh later, I might consider relaxing that to allow 4 stunts to stack at 2/3 (round the total down) value for stunts past the first.
I'd consider allowing full stacking around the 20 refresh mark.

This is all in concept, only, and I would need more exposure to actual high-refresh play to evaluate the situation in more detail, or with more certainty.

[Sanctaphrax]

I think a bit more aggression might be warranted. What you suggest wouldn't really make conventional combat much more powerful. Which ways and means seems to want to do.

On the other hand, your suggestion sounds pretty decent as for people who (like me) are fairly happy with the balance of the game as it stands.

[Tedronai]

Working from the expressed purpose of these changes being 'power balancing', the question becomes one of when, and at what rate, powers become undesirably unbalanced relative to stunts.
In my estimation, they do not begin to become notably unbalanced until refinement is available in meaningful quantities, commonly around submerged.

If someone is of the opinion that this imbalance occurs sooner, or perceives as much in their game, bumping up the timetable by a step or two would be a simple adaptation.